Sweet Dreams, Bright Eyes
by MrsTaylorBlue
Summary: A rather big family of 11 arrives at the Dumping Ground...and they instantly build friendships and settle in. But their past will eventually catch up with them, and they're certain the DG isn't prepared for this...Lots of OC/Normal charrie relationships. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on now, Brielle." Katherine said. She was the social worker. Five girls were standing outside of the car, waiting. Finally, a sixth girl slid out, taking hold of the oldest girl's hand.

"Right, we're all set then." Katherine smiled and led the six to the door. "Your brothers will be here later." She promised, as she knocked.

The girls exchanged a hopeful glance. A big woman with black braids opened the door.

"Ah, you must be the Ryder girls." She said, grinning. "I'm Gina Conway. Come in." she said, letting the girls in.

They walked in, along with Katherine, who was carrying some bags. The girls were carrying some too, and Gina went to get the rest.

"Right, you can't all share together, but we've managed to get you good roommates. I'm Tracy." A short woman smiled at them. "Everyone here is very nice but reluctant to share. We've sorted stuff for your brothers as well." Tracy added.

"Thanks." The eldest finally said. She had light blue eyes and long brown hair, and a soft smile. She had her arm around the youngest, Brielle. "I'm Cassie. This is Brielle, Maria, Skye, Ellie and Grace." She introduced. "Our brothers are Jason, Lewis, Henry, Oliver and Brandon. At least, the ones who are coming here." She said calmly. "Our other sisters couldn't come here…" she trailed off and smiled lightly. "Can we see our rooms before going to meet the others?"

"Sure." Tracy agreed, and she helped Katherine and Gina get the stuff upstairs into the girls' rooms. "Come on, let's go meet the others." She said, holding her hand out to Brielle. Brielle glanced up at Tracy then took it.

The girls and Tracy all walked into the living room.

"Guys, this is Cassie, Brielle, Maria, Skye, Ellie and Grace." Tracy said, gesturing to each girl.

Frank was staring hard at Cassie, his eyes wide. She was staring straight back.

"Frank…?" she said, shocked.

Everyone seemed surprised; nobody had even started on their names yet, so how could she know him?

The other sisters exchanged a glance as Cassie and Frank both stepped forward and hugged each other tightly.

"It's been such a long time!" she said, grinning as she pulled back.

"I know." Frank said, grinning. "It's good to see you, Cass."

"Anybody care to explain?" Maria asked, hand on her hip.

"Frank was my best friend from when we were 3 years old. Remember, he visited a couple of times, but mostly I went out?" Cassie said.

"Oh right, yeah." Maria said, grinning. "We thought he was your boyfriend."

Everyone giggled and Cassie swatted at her. Maria ducked.

"Cheeky." She said, rolling her eyes.

They were introduced to everyone and they all hit it off instantly.

The doorbell rang and Brielle ran outside.

"BRANDON! OLIVER, LEWIS, JASON, HENRY!" Brielle shouted, and laughter could be heard. The other girls ran outside, followed by the other kids.

They all ran over to their brothers and the family grouphugged tightly.

"You're okay?" Brandon whispered. He was around Sapphire's age.

"We're all fine." Cassie said. "We're going to be just great, you'll see."


	2. Chapter 2

_**BRIELLE'S POV**_

I stood there, hugging my siblings tightly. I thought that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be okay. As I stepped back to let my sisters introduce my brothers, I felt something tap my shoulder.

I turned and saw a very cute giraffe. It was Jeff, I remembered, and there was Harry, smiling at me. He was eight, I was eight. I wanted to be friends. He held his hand out to me and I took it happily, following him as he led me upstairs to show me his room.

"Wow." I said, smiling. "It's a giraffe camp!" I giggled.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, it is."

"Can I hold him?" I asked, gesturing to Jeff.

Jeff moved his head and spoke into Harry's ear, and then Harry handed him over to me.

"Please be careful, though." Harry said.

"I promise." I said softly, and I held out my pinky finger.

Harry linked his pinky with mine. "I know what it is, but I've never done pinky promises with anyone before."

"Okay, let's make a vow, you me and Jeff." I said. Then I paused. "Wait, can Berry join in?"

"Who's Berry?" Harry asked.

I took him by the hand and led him to the room I was sharing with Maria. I picked up my favorite toy; she was a red berry-colored elephant.

"She's pretty." Harry said, admiring her. We raced back to his room and closed the door, sitting solemnly on the floor while Berry and Jeff sat together beside us.

"Let's make a vow, the four of us." I said. "The only way we'll ever make promises is by pinky promises, and we'll never be mean to each other. We'll be friends forever." I said.

"Okay." Harry agreed. "And we never abandon each other no matter what happens. And we'll do everything together!" he said.

"Yeah!" I said with a smile. "But we have to do this properly. Oh and also, we need to be loyal to starlight."

"Starlight is very beautiful…okay, so loyalty to starlight." Harry said.

"Yep!"

"You go first, so I know what to say." Harry said.

"Okay." I smiled, then I became serious. "I, Brielle Ryder, vow that Berry, Jeff, Harry and I will only ever make promises by pinky promises. I also vow that we will never be mean to each other, and never abandon each other. We'll be friends forever, and do everything together. I swear on the starlight." I said solemnly.

Harry went solemn too. "I, Harry Jones, vow that Berry, Jeff, Brielle and I will only ever make promises by pinky promises. I also vow we will never be mean to each other, and never abandon each other. We'll be friends forever, and do everything together, always. I swear on the starlight." He said.

"We vow." We said together, and we then grinned.

"It's official." Harry said.

"Friends forever!" I said, and I gave him a hug, which he returned.

We played with Berry and Jeff for a while, talking all four of us, when the big girl, Sapphire, came in.

"Harry, have you seen my…" she stopped when she saw us playing together. "Aww, that's sweet you're making her welcome, Harry."

"We're going to be friends forever!" Harry chirped.

"Yeah, and we made a vow to prove it." I said.

"But it's a secret, just between us." Harry told Sapphire.

"The only thing we can talk about is the vow, we can't tell anybody what's in it." I explained solemnly.

"Exactly." Harry agreed.

"Well, you two have fun. I just came to get this." Sapphire took the 'special thread' as Harry called it, and then left.

We continued playing together, just as we heard a scream from downstairs.

"Cassie!" I said, my eyes wide, and I grabbed Harry's hand, and we ran downstairs, clutching Berry and Jeff in our free hands.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi guys! So we've seen a bit of how Brielle thinks in the last chapter. This is how it's going to go, each chapter we will find out how a sister or brother in the Ryder family really thinks and feels. Plus, some of the chapters will be the POV from the start of the story, some won't. ALSO. Some chapters will be in NORMAL characters' POV, like ones I haven't made up. Anyway, enough rambling, here goes!_

_**Lewis' POV**_

Staring out of the car window seemed to be my main objective on the way to the care home. Our social worker, Katherine, was telling us that our sisters were already at Elm Tree House (well, some of them) and not to worry. But if there's one thing I've learned is that you can't trust social workers most of the time.

I also wondered, if she _was_ telling the truth, which sisters would be there. There were five of us, Brandon, Oliver, me, Jason and Henry. I knew for sure that, from what I could gather of Katherine's nonstop chatting, there were six sisters already there. Honestly, I don't like favoritism, but I prayed that Skye and Brielle would be there. Skye and Brielle were the two sisters that actually cared about me. I knew deep down that they all cared, but I also knew that Skye and Brielle were the ones who always came to check on me first.

I could really pour out my feelings to those two. But it's not only that…first of all, Skye was the first one that was nice to Brielle and me when we were adopted.

That's the only thing about our family; most of us don't have a blood relationship. In fact, the only two that do are Brielle and me. I wasn't ever going to be separated from her, ever. But we all knew that we were truly family, because it's not always about blood, it's about loyalty, trust and love. Only Katherine knew that we were all adopted (at least for now) but the new care workers would find out, because it was written in our files.

"We're here!" Katherine's cheery voice said.

I looked over at the other four. We all shared a glance and all gave a nod, and we got out of the car, carrying out bags up to the door. A short woman with black hair answered the door. "Ah, you're the Ryder boys, right? I'm Tracy, Tracy Beaker. Come in." she said, letting us in. "Hello again, Katherine."

_Hello again? _I exchanged an excited look with Brandon. That must mean that…

"BRANDON! OLIVER, LEWIS, JASON, HENRY!" Brielle came barreling towards us. We threw out things onto the sofa beside us and I enveloped her into a bear hugged, joined by the other four. We were all laughing as she clung to us. Soon, the other five came out. My heart leaped.

Skye, Cassie, Maria, Ellie and Grace. They were the other sisters. We all clung to each other, holding on tight. We stepped away from each other finally, and Cassie started introducing us to everyone. The first person that caught my eye though was a small blonde boy who was standing behind Brielle.

I kind of tensed, but he only tapped her on the shoulder with his giraffe. She turned around and smiled. I looked away with a grin as she took his hand and they walked off together to play. The second person that caught my eye left me speechless.

She had brown bushy hair tied into plaits, she was tanned and she was wearing hoop earrings. She didn't seem to be any different from other teenage girls I knew, but there was something about her that made my heart flip a little. She was so pretty.

She caught me staring at her and I looked away, feeling a small blush creep onto my cheeks. She walked over to me.

"Sapphire." She said, with a grin.

"I'm Lewis." I introduced myself.

"How old are you?" she asked curiously.

"15. You?"

"Same." Sapphire said with a grin. She gestured upstairs. "I think Brielle and Harry will get along just fine."

"Yeah, same here." I said.

Tracy led me and Oliver upstairs. Brandon, Jason and Henry were already deep in conversation with the other kids, and they headed back to the living room.

Oliver and I unpacked.

"Did you see her?" Oliver asked breathlessly.

"Who?" I asked blankly.

"Tee, of course." My younger brother was glowing.

"That little blonde girl?" I checked.

"Yeah. She was so nice and funny and…kinda pretty." Oliver sighed dreamily.

"Ooh, sounds like my baby brother has a crush." I laughed.

"Shut up. You've got a crush too, on that Sapphire girl." Oliver teased.

"Oh be quiet, you. I do not." I protested.

"Do."

"Do not."

"Do!"

"Do not!"

"Yes you…"

"No I…"

But before either of us could protest any more, we heard a scream.

"Cassie." We said together, and we ran out to see what was going on.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Cassie's POV**_

I didn't mean for it to happen. I'd never do anything that dangerous to anybody, no matter how much I hated them. Especially not Katherine.

I was playing football in the garden with Frank, Maria and Liam. Liam kicked the ball really high, and I did this kind of cool jump/flip thing and kicked it backwards…only it went flying out onto the road and onto the bonnet of a car, and I was sure of that because I heard a smash. I also heard screeching of brakes and the unmistakable bang of two cars crashing.

"Oh my God!" I shouted, and I ran down, jumping down the hill to see who's car it was. As soon as I saw I screamed loudly, hands over my mouth. There was blood, lots of it, and the person in the car with the football on was so familiar. I screamed and screamed until everyone came running. I finally stopped and broke down crying. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" I began to cry, bringing my hands up to cover my face.

I felt Frank put an arm around me. I opened my eyes and removed my hands to stare at the person in the car. I heard Mike calling an ambulance.

_Katherine, I'm so so so so sorry Katherine._

"I didn't mean to!" I had my eyes tightly shut.

I heard two people talking.

"Come on, Harry, Jeff, Berry, Brielle, Tee, Oliver." That was definitely Sapphire.

"You're not old enough to see this." Lewis agreed, and I heard their footsteps trudging away.

I heard others following until only Frank, Mike, Maria, Liam and I remained. I was still crying, but I'd turned around and practically fallen into Frank's arms as he held me tightly. I heard Maria choking somewhat, too.

"It's all my fault! If only I wasn't such a bloody show off!" I sobbed into Frank's shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault, Cass. You couldn't predict what would happen." Frank was saying.

I opened my eyes somewhat and saw Liam put a somewhat awkward arm around Maria, but she leaned her head in and cried softly. I saw his confused face turn into a firm one and he put the arm he had around her properly over her shoulders, letting her cry.

The ambulance came and managed to get Katherine out. I closed my eyes tightly and hugged Frank again. I could see a lot of blood.

"It wasn't your fault, Cassie." Mike said, patting my head.

"Can we go with her?" I asked tearfully.

"Sorry dear, only family members allowed in this sort of serious situation." The ambulance woman said, patting my head. "We've got the home's phone number, we'll call with any news, okay poppet? Just relax. Your social worker will be fine."

Frank led me inside, an arm still around me. Maria and Liam were slightly ahead of us, and he had an arm round her still, too.

As we all entered the kitchen, I caught sight of Brielle, and she had tears in her eyes. So did Ellie and Grace.

Brielle got up as soon as she saw me. "Is she okay?"

"I…I don't know." I admitted.

Brielle's eyes glazed with more tears. "What happened?"

"I…it was my fault…" I closed my eyes

"What did you do?" Grace asked.

"It wasn't really her fault." Maria said. "We…we were playing football and…she did that flip kick and…it landed on the bonnet of Katherine's car."

Brielle was staring at me, her face white. She was trembling, and still standing. "I…" she was obviously lost for words.

"Brielle, please, you have to understand that I'd never hurt someone…Bri please…" I tried.

"Don't call me that!" she shouted suddenly, her hands balling into fists. "I can't believe you'd do something like this!"

"Bri, it wasn't on…" Lewis began, but Brielle had fled from the room, clutching Berry in her arms. Harry followed her, glancing back at me with an unreadable expression.

I opened my eyes and ducked under Frank's arms and ran out the back door. I started running back to the scene. The people weren't there any more, and the cars had gone. I kept running. I wasn't sure where I was going. But I felt arms grab mine and force me to the ground, and then flopped onto the grass beside me. Frank was holding me again, and I was holding him too, tightly.

"I didn't mean to." I whispered, and then I passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Grace's POV**_

Brielle ran from the room and Cassie ran outside. Frank was close behind Cassie and Harry was close behind Brielle. I bit my lip.

"It wasn't her fault." I whispered, then I nodded determinedly, braver. "It really wasn't."

"We know." Johnny said gently.

"Brielle…she's too young to understand accident and on purpose." Lewis said. "Well…when it comes to things like this, anyway."

"What can we do to convince her?" Tee asked.

"Well…it's most likely that Harry will convince her. But if not, we can come up with a plan. As long as you all help out, we can pull it off." I said.

"Agreed." Everyone chorused.

Jason found my hand and held it tightly. I gave his hand a sympathetic squeeze. Jason hated this kind of thing, I knew that.

"I know why Brielle is acting like this." Lewis said suddenly.

Everyone turned to look at him. "What?" I asked.

"Well…it's to do with our past. Her and me." Lewis said.

"Wait, I thought you were all family?" Lily asked.

I looked at all of my siblings, and we all nodded.

"We're not blood related." I told them.

"Just by the fact that a real family is constructed of trust, loyalty and love." Lewis explained.

"That's the family that binds us together." Jason said.

"So…are any of you related by blood?" Gus asked, scribbling away in his notebook. I chuckled; I'd learned he always did that.

"Only Brielle and Lewis are related by blood." Ellie told him.

"Brielle and I….we went through tough times with our parents…and death scares her more than anything else she's ever seen." Lewis told everyone. "At some point, I'll tell you all, but maybe now isn't the best time to think about depressing stuff. Who's for Uno?"

"Me!" everyone shouted, eager to move on.

"We can mix four packs together, so there's plenty." I said. "We've done this before with our other siblings."

And so we began to play Uno. Soon everyone was smiling. Cassie and Frank entered the room and in the next round, we let them play.

Mike entered the room just as we finished putting everything away. We all fell silent. Brielle and Harry came in just before he began talking. Brielle ran over to Cassie and whispered in her ear, hugging her tightly.

"I've just heard from the hospital." Mike said. "Katherine…isn't going to make it."

Cassie choked on her tears and buried her face in Frank's shoulder, gripping his arm tightly. Brielle hugged Harry, and Maria hugged Liam. This seemed to take him off guard, but he held her.

I shut my eyes tightly and felt Carmen, who was sitting beside me, hold my hand. Jason, on my other side, was holding my other hand.

"But she had a last request." Mike said. "She wanted you Ryder kids to know that she knew who kicked the ball and that she knew it wasn't intentional; she said she's sorry and that she hopes you all live a grand life."

I nodded slowly and opened my life. "She always used to tell us to listen to her motto, no matter what happens in life." I said.

"What was that?" Liam asked.

"Keep Calm and Live On." I recited, and I breathed in, then out deeply. "We have to listen to her last request." I said, staring around at my siblings.

"Our first day and we've already messed up." Brandon said, causing everyone to chuckle a bit.

"Don't worry, we all mess up sometimes." Carmen said.

"A lot, actually." Johnny added, and we all grinned.

Going to sleep that night was hard, but I managed. She wanted us to go on, Katherine. And that's what we'd do.


End file.
